David Kalinowski hopes to turn the southeast corner of Hickory Ridge and General Motors roads into a destination for wine lovers.

Kalinowski and his wife, Amber, recently bought 9½ acres of rural residential-zoned property in Milford Township for a vineyard, winery and tasting room.

“Some of my best memories of the past 10 years or so involve me and my wife going to Traverse City for wine tasting. It’s something we do year-round and on our anniversary. And I feel that it’s my calling to do something similar to that in Milford, just down the road from our house,” Kalinowski said Feb. 22 during a presentation to the Milford Township Planning Commission. He attended the meeting to explain his plan for the property, but had no formal request before the commission.

Kalinowski, who lives just north of the property, began envisioning grapevines there in 2013.

“Five years later, the parcel was still for sale and, after a lot of prayer and saving, we decided it was time to take action and we purchased the property,” he said.

He hopes to start tilling the ground and planting vines next year and would open a winery in 2023 to process the grapes. He'll use most of the acreage for grapes and would build the winery and tasting room as close to the intersection as possible and away from nearby houses.

“The intention is not to make a bar, but a winery and tasting experience,” he said. Visitors would sample his wines and have the option to buy it in bottles.

Nicholas Lomako, township planner, said the R1-R zoning permits the growing and processing of grapes.

“Where you get to the shady area is when you start putting up a wine-tasting room and parts of it become more of a commercial nature,” Lomako said.

Lomako noted that some wine-tasting facilities in northern Michigan are used for weddings and other special events.

“If that’s something we want to entertain at a facility here in the community, there is some massaging of the zoning ordinance that will have to occur before those event-type of venues are established,” he said.

Rural flavor

Commissioner Gordon Muir suggested that Kalinowski consider growing grapes at the site, but establish a tasting room in the village of Milford.

Pairing the tasting room with a vineyard reinforces the concept of a winery as a destination experience, according to Kalinowski.

Commissioner William Mazzara called the plan “an interesting idea.”

“I think it adds to the flavor of the rural community,” Mazzara said. “If it’s done right and it can be controlled properly, we could possibly put it right on the corner and then protect the residents with 9½ acres of vineyard."

Trees and brush grow at the southeast corner of General Motors Road and Hickory Ridge, where David Kalinowski hopes to build a winery and plant a vineyard.(Photo: Sharon Dargay)

Chairman George Magro asked Lomako to bring examples of agribusinesses to a future commission meeting.

“I’d like to look at some models of agribusiness and see if any will work. We’ll look at it and do what we can do. You’re welcome to come in and listen to us discuss it,” Magro told Kalinowski.

Kalinowski said he’ll be back.

He has grown grapes since 2008 and lived in Ferndale before moving to Milford Township in 2014. A handful of vines that grow on the property surrounding his home will help determine what kind of grapes he'll grow in his vineyard.

Kalinowski works as an engineer full time and envisions the vineyard and winery as a part-time endeavor.

"I’m not doing this from a financial perspective. If I wanted to do well financially, I'd just keep doing the job I do," he said. "The idea is, I want to sell an experience. There’s nothing like taking a sip of wine and looking out the window and seeing actual grapes growing out there.”